Mustard Roasted Venison with Mushrooms

I recently made a quick trip to Indiana to visit my folks, and on the flight back I was fortunate to have a well-wrapped venison loin tucked into my carry on. Wild game is one of the things I both love and feel good about eating, and this gift was courtesy of my brother Vince. Like pastured, organic meat, wild game is quite lean and so it should either be cooked quickly and served rare, or braised for a long period of time to break down the fibers. With this beautiful piece of completely lean meat I opted for a quick pan-sear followed by a high-heat roast, with the resulting rare and tender finish.

The technique for this is really simple, but you do need an oven-safe skillet or small roasting pan. You start the meat on your stove top to brown off the sides, and then place the skillet directly into a hot oven for a quick roast. Do not try to do this with a nonstick skillet! For the sear you can use olive or vegetable oil, but I used duck fat. Yes, duck fat. We roasted a whole local duck a while back, and duck fat is about the most flavor-packed fat you can have around. Use whatever you like or have on hand if you don’t happen to have a jar of duck fat hanging around.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Pat the venison to remove excess moisture so you will get a good sear.

Heat the duck fat or oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the loin and let it brown on each side, turning with tongs until you have good color all over. Remove from heat, and stir the mushrooms into the duck fat. Sprinkle all with salt and pepper, and spread the mustard over the top and sides of the venison loin.

Place the skillet in the oven and roast for 10-12 minutes for rare. Remove from the oven and let the meat rest for ten minutes before slicing and serving with the mushrooms.

8 Responses to Mustard Roasted Venison with Mushrooms

Oh my, that looks amazing. I love my meat rare (Hubby always says I just need to tell the servers to lop off the horns and walk it through a warm room) so this is absolutely perfect for me. I love the preparation you used and look forward to hearing more about the mustard.